K2016

Ideas for the future of plastic

“Make plastic trash usable—100% of it” was written on one of the 1,915 sticky notes submitted in the Post-it® note campaign at the K2016 plastics trade fair in Düsseldorf (Germany). From October 19 – 26, customers and other visitors to the Evonik stand had an opportunity either to write their ideas, visions, or requests for future plastic solutions on colored sticky notes or to post them online using social media (hashtag #createtheexceptional). A Post-It® artist then stuck the notes to a huge canvas on site, gradually transforming a black-and-white skyline into a colorful globe.

Participants could following the campaign at the stand or on Twitter. Visitors’ top concerns were environmental protection and sustainability, with 511 notes on the wall about environmentally friendly plastics, recycling, or the conservation of resources. Other popular issues, however, included solutions for lightweight construction (127 notes), biobased plastics (106), and new materials for the automotive industry (85), 3D printing (74), and medical technology (69). Groundbreaking ideas such as self-cleaning surfaces and intelligent adhesives described concrete products that Evonik customers would like to see.

Evonik will follow up on many of these ideas and will share interesting stories on Twitter and LinkedIn over the coming weeks.